Belt Support System For Garment

ABSTRACT

A garment is provided with one or more selectively openable tunnels on the garment around an opening in the garment. The tunnels enable a belt to be placed within the tunnels simultaneously across the entire length of the tunnel without having to thread the belt from one end of the tunnel to the other. After placing the belt within the tunnel, a releasable securing mechanism enables the tunnel to be secured to the garment around the belt to maintain the connection of the belt to the garment.

FIELD OF THE DISCLOSURE

The present invention relates generally to garment, and more specifically to a garment including features for use in retaining a belt to assist in holding the garment on an individual.

BACKGROUND OF THE DISCLOSURE

In the area of garments, in order to assist in holding the garment on the body of an individual wearing the garment, numerous garments employ additional supports along with the garment. These support can take various forms depending upon the nature of the garment and the location of the garment on the body of the individual wearing the garment.

For garments worn about the legs of an individual, the primary additional support for assisting the individual in holding the garment on the individual is a belt. For the vast majority of garments that can employ a belt for additional support, the garment includes a number of loops that are secured to the garment at various spaced locations on the garment. In most configurations the loops are spaced around the waist of the garment in order to enable the belt to constrict the garment into conformance with the waist of the individual wearing the garment.

To attach the belt to the garment, which can be formed of a number of different materials, the belt is threaded through the loops to enable the belt to encircle the waist of the garment and to position the buckle of the belt at a location where the individual can readily engage and disengage the buckle as needed. Further, the coverage of the loops can vary, with loops on different garments being formed to cover different lengths of the perimeter of the waist of the garment. While these loops of longer length, also called tunnels, can provide additional support due to the increased rea of engagement between the belt and the tunnel, and by extension the garment, the belt is similarly engaged within the tunnel by threading the belt through the tunnel around the waist off the garment.

However, with regard to the configuration and placement of the loops, they are normally standardized in order to receive belts of a certain width and thickness for the belt. In addition, the loops are affixed to the garment in order to retain them in the desired position. While each of these features of prior art loops enables the belt to function, they limit the configurations and types of belts that can be employed with the garment including these loops.

Therefore, it is desirable to develop an improved solution for the attachment of a belt to a garment to address these issues with the prior art.

SUMMARY OF THE DISCLOSURE

According to one aspect of an exemplary embodiment of the invention, a garment is provided with one or more selectively openable tunnels on the garment. The tunnels enable a belt to be placed within the tunnels across the entire length of the tunnel without having to thread the belt from one end of the tunnel to the other. After placing the belt within the tunnel, a releasable securing mechanism enables the tunnel to be secured to the garment around the belt to maintain the connection of the belt to the garment.

According to another aspect of an exemplary embodiment of the invention, the size of the tunnels is formed to enable belts of varying sizes to be readily positioned within the tunnels. The releasable securing mechanism enables the tunnel to securely hold the belt on the garment regardless of the size or configuration of the belt or number of times the belt is wrapped around the garment, to allow the belt to provide the desired support assistance in holding the garment on the individual or wearer.

These and other aspects, features and advantages of the invention will be made apparent from the following detailed description taken together with the drawing figures.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The drawings illustrate the best mode currently contemplated of practicing the present disclosure.

In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is front elevation view of one embodiment of a garment including the belt support system of the invention;

FIG. 2 is a partially broken away sectional view of the belt support system of FIG. 1; and

FIG. 3 is a rear elevation view of the belt support system of the invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Before the present compositions, apparatuses and methods are described, it is understood that this invention is not limited to the particular embodiments and methodology, as these may vary. It is also to be understood that the terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particular exemplary embodiments only, and is not intended to limit the scope of the present invention which will be limited only by the appended claims.

Referring now to FIG. 1, the reference numeral 10 generally identifies a garment including the belt support system 12. The garment 10 can be any suitable type of garment 10 that can utilize a belt 14 in order to assist the garment 10 in being held on the body of the wearer. The garment 10 can include pockets (not shown), additional panels, such as fabric reinforcing panels (not shown), or any other features suitable for inclusion with a garment worn by an individual.

In the exemplary illustrated embodiment of FIG. 1 the garment 10 is formed as a pair of pants 16 including a body 17 having a seat 18 and a pair of legs 20 extending outwardly from the seat 18. The pants 16 can be formed of any suitable material and include a waist opening 24 in the set 18 opposite the legs 20 and a leg opening on each leg 20 opposite the seat 18.

Around the waist opening 24 is disposed the belt support system 12, though the system 12 can be disposed in any suitable location on the garment 10. The system 12 includes a number of tunnels 26 disposed on the exterior of the seat 18 around the periphery of the waist opening 24. The tunnels 26 are formed of any suitable material, and in the illustrated exemplary embodiment of FIGS. 1-3 are formed from the same or a similar material to that used to form the garment 10. The tunnels 26 can additionally be formed to have any desired length to encircle all or a portion of the perimeter of the waist opening 24.

Looking now at FIG. 2, each tunnel 26 includes a flap 28 that is secured to the seat 18 of the garment 10 below the waist opening 24 and extends upwardly towards the waist opening 24. The end 30 of the flap 28 secured to the garment 10 can be secured in any suitable manner, such as using stitching or adhesives, among others. The opposite end 32 of the flap 28 is secured to the garment 10 using a releasable fastening device or mechanism 34 disposed between the end 32 and the garment 10. The mechanism 34 can be any suitable mechanism such as a mechanical fastener, including, but not limited to one or more buttons, zippers, snaps or hook and loop closures. In the exemplary illustrated embodiment of FIG. 2, the end 32 of the flap 28 and associated releasable securing mechanism 34 are located adjacent the waist opening 24, though the position of the ends 30,32 can be reversed. Further, in an alternative embodiment, the flap 28 can include two ends 32 and two mechanisms 34, rendering the flap 28 retro-fittable on an existing garment 10.

Referring no to FIG. 3, at the rear of the garment 10 the system 12 can include a pair of loops 36 secured to the garment 10 between opposed tunnels 26. The loops 36 in the illustrated exemplary embodiment are formed of materials similar to that of the garment 10 and are affixed to the garment 10 adjacent the waist opening 24 in alignment with the tunnels 26 in any suitable manner, such as by stitching or adhesive. The loops 36 are also secured to the garment 10 at an angle with regard to the long axis of the tunnels 26 and to one another, thereby improving the ability of a belt 14 to be positioned and retained within the loops 36.

In use, to secure a belt 14 within the system 10, the ends 32 of the flaps 28 on the garment 10 are disengaged from the releasable securing mechanism 34 to enable the ends 32 to be moved away from the garment 10 to expose the interior 38 of the tunnels 26. The belt 14 can then be inserted between the flap 28 and the garment 10 within the interior of the tunnel 26. The size of the flap 28 and the corresponding interior 38 of the tunnel 26 is selected to enable the flap 28 to enclose belts 16 of varying widths and thicknesses. Further, as shown in FIGS. 1-3, in the embodiment where the belt 14 is a specialized martial arts belt 40, the belt 40 can be wrapped about the waist opening 24 multiple times and still be fully accommodated within the interior 38 of the tunnels 26. In addition, in those embodiments where the loops 36 are present in the system 10, the belt 40 can be inserted through the loops 36 prior to wrapping the belt 40 around the waist portion 24, thereby holding the belt 40 on the garment 10 as it is wrapped.

After wrapping the belt 40 multiple times about the perimeter of the waist opening 24, e.g., twice around the waist opening 24 in an overlapping configuration, the end 32 of the flap 28 is re-engaged with the securing mechanism 34 to secure the belt 40 within the tunnel 26. The belt 40 can additionally be readily removed from the tunnels 26 by reversing this process.

In garments 10 employed with these types of belts 40, i.e., those utilized in the martial arts, the belt 40 has a significance beyond its function in supporting the garment 10 on the wearer. For this reason, the tunnels 26 in the illustrated exemplary embodiment are spaced from one another on opposed sides of the waist opening 24 in order to enable the belt 40 to be visible. However, due to the purpose to which the garment 10 is put, the length and construction of the tunnels 26 around the waist opening 24 enables the system 10 to securely hold the belt 40 on the garment 10 while engaging in martial arts activities.

Various other embodiments of the present invention are contemplated as being within the scope of the filed claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter regarded as the invention. 

We claim:
 1. A garment comprising: a) a body including at least one opening adapted to receive a portion of a wearer therein; and b) a belt support system secured to the body around the at least one opening, the belt support system including a number of tunnels disposed on the body, the tunnels being open at each end and including a flap secured to the body that defines an interior between the body and the flap, the flap having one end engaged with a releasable securing mechanism.
 2. The garment of claim 1 wherein the flap is affixed to the body opposite the releasable securing mechanism.
 3. The garment of claim 2 wherein the flap is movable with respect to the body when the one end is disengaged from the releasable securing mechanism.
 4. The garment of claim 1 wherein the releasable securing mechanism is a mechanical release mechanism.
 5. The garment of claim 4 wherein the mechanical release mechanism is selected from the group consisting of a hook and loop fastener, a button and a snap closure.
 6. The garment of claim 1 further comprising a pair of tunnels disposed on opposed sides of the at least one opening.
 7. The garment of claim 1 further comprising a belt disposed within the tunnels and extending around a perimeter of the at least opening, wherein the interior of the tunnels encompasses the belt when wrapped twice around the perimeter of the waist opening.
 8. The garment of claim 1 wherein the garment is a pair of pants and the at least one opening is a waist opening.
 9. The garment of claim 1 wherein the garment is a part of a martial arts uniform.
 10. The garment of claim 1 further comprising at least one angled loop disposed between a pair of spaced tunnels.
 11. A method for securing a belt to a garment, the method comprising the steps of: a) providing the garment including the belt support system of claim 1; b) disengaging the one end of the flap of each of the tunnels from the associated releasable securing mechanism; c) positioning the belt within the interior of each tunnel; and d) re-engaging the one end of each flap with the releasable securing mechanism.
 12. The method of claim 11 wherein the step of positioning the belt within the interior of each tunnel comprises wrapping the belt at least twice around the garment to position the belt in an overlapped configuration within each tunnel.
 13. The method of claim 11 further comprising engaging the belt with at least one loop secured to the garment and spaced from the number of tunnels.
 14. The method of claim 13 wherein the at least one loop includes a pair of angled loops secured to the garment between a pair of adjacent tunnels, and wherein the step of engaging the belt with at least one loop comprises engaging the belt with the pair of angled loops.
 15. The method of claim 13 wherein the step of engaging the belt with the at least one loop is prior to placing the belt within the interior of each tunnel. 